Carol Fisher-Linn
Thankfully, for a good number of us, the summertime heat is not as much of a problem as it might have been in the late 1800’s before A/C since 88% of households and most public buildings are now air conditioned. Thanks to one man, Willis Carrier. One day, on a foggy railroad platform in 1902, as he stared into the mist, it occurred to him he could dry air by passing it through water to create fog, making it possible to manufacture moist air. By 1903 he solved one of mankind’s most elusive challenges until then – controlling the indoor environment, by inventing a way to control humidity – the fundamental building block for modern A/C. This genius was born in Angola, NY in1876, graduated from Angola Academy and then the Buffalo High School in 1897. Willis received his Master of Engineering from Cornell University. This Angola native was awarded honorary doctorates from Lehigh and Alfred Universities, was induced into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1985 and was named one to TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century” in 1998. This “Father of Air Conditioning’s” invention spawned numerous industries that drive our economy today. Cooled theaters grew the movie industry, baked goods and war supplies for WWII were made possible, A/C enabled shopping malls, transatlantic flight, and computers and servers that power the internet. Willis Carrier’s legacy lives on today as the company he founded continues to reinvent the industry and shape the world we live in. Carrier leads the industry with energy-efficient products and manufacturing practices.
Martha Stewart has Polish heritage, and although she grew up in Jersey City, NJ, she had some familial ties to Western New York. Her mother, born in Cheektowaga, taught Martha how to cook and sew, and later, she learned some other handy skills while spending summers at her grandparent’s home (who immigrated here from Poland). Here they taught her the processes of canning and preserving food for long-term shelf life. Martha occasionally comes back to Buffalo to visit the graves of her beloved grandparents in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cheektowaga, NY. Her brother, Dr. Eric Scott, DDS is an oral & maxillofacial surgery specialist (since 1965) on Harlem Road in Cheektowaga.
Sean Patrick McGraw, an American country music singer, and native of Dunkirk, NY is a former Nashville Star semi-finalist who is presently performing for the past year at Alley Taps at Printers Alley in Nashville. A U-Tube video of his trip back home this past July takes viewers to Van Buren Park on Lake Erie expressing his delight in having grown up on its shores. During the summer of 2009, he made his national television debut on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and opened several dates for Toby Keith and Trace Adkins on America’s Toughest Tour. He has played anywhere from Toronto to Mobile to Las Vegas. Describing his music as “something like Lyle Lovett singing Springsteen songs while wearing Dwight Yoakam’s hat”, McGraw has earned respect among songwriters as well. McGraw is also sponsored by Fender Guitars, Jagermeister, Budweiser, The Summit Group, Harley Davidson Footwear and Gowanda. McGraw often appears at events in Western New York, most recently this past July 4th and throughout the month at Cabana Sam’s and Big Inlet Brewery, Southern Tier Brewing, Sams at Sunset Bay and was featured part of Lakewood’s Rock the Lake.
building block for modern air conditioning; he graced the
cover of TIME magazine in 1998 as one of the “100 Most Infl uential
People of the 20th Century”. Actor, producer William
Fichtner was raised in Cheektowaga, NY he appeared in many
fi lms from Contact to Crash to Passion of Mind with Demi
Moore and appeared in CBS sitcom Mom from 2015 to 2021.
Actor, producer William Fichtner, was born in Long Island but raised in Cheektowaga, NY, graduating from Maryvale HS in 1974. He then attended State University of New York at Brockport, earning a BA in criminal justice in 1978 and then went on to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NY. “Soap” lovers know him as Rod Landry in As the World Turns, he appeared in many films from Contact to Crash to Passion of Mind with Demi Moore and appeared in CBS sitcom Mom from 2015 to 2021. In January 2025, it was announced that Fichtner had joined the second season of Beef. In April, it was announced that Fichtner had joined the cast of Lucky. A big fan of Buffalo Bills, he appeared in a commercial for them before the 2014 Season; he narrated for ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Four Falls of Buffalo. Staying true to his roots as a producer, Fichter makes it clear that one of the best places to make movies is in Buffalo New York.